Latch mechanism.



J. H. ONEILL & M. T. COLEMAN.

LATCH MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 8, 1912. I 1,063,466, Patented June 3, 1913.

' Fig.2.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 60., WASHINGTON, D. L

tl hllTED STATES PATENT omnon.

JAMES H. ONEILL AND MORRIES T. COLEMAN, OF MACEDON, NEW YORK.

LATCH MECHANISM.

1 ,QNESAGQ.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 3, 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, JAMES H. ONEILL andMoiuurs T. COLEMAN, citizens of the United States, and residents ofMacedon, in the county of Wayne and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Latch Mechanism, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to latch-mechanism for use in connection withdrop-bottom buckets or similar devices, such as are employed forconveying concrete and various materials.

The general object of the invention is to produce a mechanism whichshall be simple and durable in construction and convenient in operation.

A more particular object of the invention is to produce alatch-mechanism which will always act positively and certainly toengage, and hold closed, the bottom of the bucket. To this end we employa latch of such form and construction that it is adapted to swingupwardly against the bottom of the bucket, so as to force the bottomtoward closed position, and with this latch we employ positively-actingmanually-operable means for so swinging it.

Other objects of the invention, and the features of construction bywhich they are attained, will be set forth in connection with thefollowing description of the prefer-red embodiment of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing: Figure 1 is a front-elevation of a bucketprovided with latch-mechanism embodying the pres ent invent-ion, thebottom of the bucket being released and partly open; Fig. 2 is afront-elevation showing the bottom held in closed position by thelatch-mechanism; and Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, withthe mechanism in the same position as in Fig. 2.

The invention is illustrated as applied to a drop-bottom bucket of whichthe general form is familiar, this bucket comprising a sheet-metal body5, rectangular in horizontal section, and a fiat bottom 6 which normallycloses the lower end of the body. The

bottom 6 is carried by arms 7 pivoted, at 8, to one side of the body, sothat the bottom is hinged to the body and may swing downwardly to openthe bucket and discharge its contents.

The bottom is normally held in closed position by means of a latchhaving two fingers 9 which press upwardly against the margin 10 of thebottom, as shown in F igs. 2 and 8. This latch is an integral membercomprising, in addition to the fingers 9, trunnions 11 at its ends whichhave hearings in eyes formed upon straps 12 riveted to the side of thebody, and a central crank-portion 18 connecting the trunnions.

The latch is actuated by manually-open able mechanism in the form of atoggle. This mechanism comprises a link 15 pivoted, at its lower end, tothe crank 13 by means of a strap 14 inclosing the crank. The strap issufiiciently loose upon the crank to permit a slight lateral angularmovement of the link in addition to its pivotal movement. The upper endof the link is piv-,

oted, by means of a bolt 17, to a hand-lever 16 which, in turn, ispivoted upon a stud 18 supported by a lug 19 on the side of the bucket.The short portion of the hand-lever, between the pivots 17 and 18, is ofsuch length that it acts with the link 15 as a toggle-lever. \Vhen thebottom of the bucket is completely closed, and the fingers 9 of thelatch are swung upwardly against the bottom, the toggle occupies theposition shown in Fig. 2, in which the pivots are sufficiently beyondthe straight-line position to lock the latch in closed position. Whenthe bucket is to be opened it is necessary merely to swing thehand-lever upwardly, raising the crank 13 and lowering the fingers 9 outof engagement with the bottom, whereupon the bottom may swing open bythe action of gravity. In closing the bucket again the hand-lever isheld in raised position, thus holding the fingers out of the path of thebottom 6 during the closing movement of the latter, and, after thebottom has been swung upwardly to, or approximately to, closed positionthe hand-lever is again depressed. By this last action the fingers 9 areforced inwardly and upwardly and into engagement with the margin 10 ofthe bottom. It should be noted that this engagement occurs regardless ofthe fact that the bottom may not have been already returned completelyto closed position against the lower edge of the body of the bucket, andthat by the continued downward movement of the hand-lever and upwardmovement of the fingers the bottom, after such engagement, may be forcedpositively upward. Acco-rdingly, if any slight obstruction to the fullclosing of the bottom exists, the positive action of the latch may stillforce the bottom to closed position. In case such complete closing isprevented by an unyielding obstruction, such as a small stone, the latchmay still operate to hold the bottom in its raised position owing to thefact that the toggle has a powerful effect upon the latch even before itreaches straight-line position, and thus the weight of the handlever,acting upon the toggle, will hold the bottom with suflicient securityfor practical pur poses even when it is prevented from absolutelyclosing.

. By pivoting the hand-lever to swing in a plane close to, andsubstantially parallel with, the side of the bucket it is renderedunnecessary for the hand-lever to be swung outwardly and away from theside of the bucket, so that the hand-lever need not project to any greatdistance from the bucket in any operative position. This is a feature ofgreat value where the bucket is employed for the conveyance of concrete,since it en ables the bucket to be properly discharged and operated in amold affording little space beyond that necessary for the reception ofthe bucket.

e claim 1. In a drop-bottom bucket with a hinged bottom, latch-mechanismfor holding the bottom closed, said mechanism comprising a latch movablymounted on the body of the bucket and adapted to engage the bottom withan upward movement, a hand-lever pivoted upon the body and arranged toswing in a plane substantially parallel with and close to a side of thebody, and a link connecting the latch and the hand-lever andconstituting, with the latter, a toggle where by the latch may be forcedpositively into engagement with the bottom.

2. In a drop-bottom bucket with a hinged bottom, latchmechanism forholding the bottom closed, said mechanism comprising a latch pivoted onthe body of the bucket outside of the bottom and adapted to swingupwardly against the bottom so as to force the latter toward closedposition, and manuallyoperable mechanism acting positively to swing thelatch upwardly.

3. In a drop-bottom bucket with a hinged bottom, latch-mechanism forholding the bottom closed, said mechanism comprising a latch pivoted onthe body of the bucket outside of the bottom and adapted to swingupwardly against the bottom so as to force the latter toward closedposition, and togglemechanism for actuating the latch positively in saiddirection, said mechanism including a manually-operable lever pivotedupon the body to swing in a plane substantially parallel with a side ofthe body.

4. In a drop-bottom bucket with a hinged bottom, latch-mechanism forholding the bottom closed, said mechanism comprising a latch carried bythe body and movable out of and into engagement with the bottom in adirection to force the bottom toward closed position, andmanually-operable mechanism for actuating the latch positively in saiddirection.

5. In a drop-bottom bucket with a hinged bottom, latch-mechanism forholding the bottom closed, said mechanism comprising a latch pivoted onthe body of the bucket near the lower edge thereof and having a partadapted to swing upwardly into engagement with the bottom and to forcethe bottom toward closed position, and toggle-mechanism and a hand-leverfor actuating the latch, the hand-lever normally acting, through itsweight, to force the latch toward its upper position.

JAMES H. ONEILL. MORRIES T. COLEMAN. lVitnesses HLLIAM G. HARP, JOHN L.LANE.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents: each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

